Ebaumsworld

Uploaded 06/29/2008

eBaum's World (subtitled "Media for the masses") is a website featuring media such as videos, Flashcartoons and web games. It is highly controversial for many reasons, primarily because content on the website is taken from other sources without permission and rebranded with the eBaum's World logo.[1] The site, which was originally co-owned by Eric "eBaum" Bauman and his father, Neil Bauman, of Rochester, New York, ranks in the top 1000 sites on the Internet according to the website Alexa.[2] On August 2, 2007, eBaum's World was acquired by HandHeld Entertainment in a complex deal involving stock and $15 million in cash.[3]

The site features individual celebrity soundboards where users can click buttons to hear quotes or phrases spoken by that celebrity. By pressing certain buttons in an organized order, users can simulate the celebrities saying unusual things. In this way, the soundboards are commonly used in prank phone calls. These calls are often recorded and subsequently re-submitted to the site.

eBaum's World has a very large forum community, with thousands of members and over one million posts. There is also a chatroom, and a store which sells eBaum merchandise. There is also a section called "Moron Mail" which features feedback sent in by users.

eBaum's World has a very large collection of prank and comedic photos which are divided into signs, Photoshop images, and misleading croppings of normal pictures.

This site also has a very large collection of Flash movies, games, and prank phone calls, some of which have been taken from other websites without permission. Some of the more famous ones are the Mr. Bergis prank calls, Peanut Butter Jelly Time (despite the creator's explicit statements that he does not want it hosted on eBaum's World,[4] and "Where's Waldo?".[

eBaum's World has been the subject of significant controversy in many Internet communities due to numerous incidents of content being taken from other sites, such as YTMND, Something Awful, Albino Blacksheep, Olde English, Fark, Newgrounds and Cracked, without attribution. For example, Olde English always finishes their videos with a screen that states that "This video is protected under a Creative Commons License"; in more than one video copied from Olde English to eBaum's World, the final screen is cut out of the video, whereas YouTube and other video sites have it in to credit the creators. Companies such as Viacom,[5][6]20th Century Fox,[7] and Sega have all claimed that eBaum's World has infringed on their copyrights as well. Eric Bauman denies critics' claims that the site's content is stolen, citing research done by site editors and the consent form that must accompany uploads of material. He claims to honor all requests to remove unauthorized material [2], but this is contested by some content creators. In particular, web artist and animator Jonti Picking, was only able to have his animations removed at the beginning of 2006. [3] Bauman has claimed that he formerly worked with Picking, though Picking has stated that this is false.[4][5]

A web site, EbaumsWorldSucks.com, has been set up by Newgrounds/Something Awful supporters Neil Cicierega, Shawn Vulliez, and Abi Rendon (a former eBaum's World employee) to document the ongoing eBaum's World controversy. The site hosts a page containing statements from content creators claiming that some of their works appear on eBaum's World without permission. Bauman has demanded that the site be taken down, a request that has been ignored.

As early as 2003, Eric Bauman had been threatened by legal action by corporations, citing unauthorized use of trademarked names or copyrighted material. One notable case involved the soundboards and the audio used within them.[5]

In early 2005, Hasbro sent a cease-and-desist letter claiming that the GI Joe parody videos, originally made by independent producer FenslerFilm, violated their registered trademarks and copyrights. The videos were not removed, since FenslerFilm did not face any legal action.

Since November 2005, several arguments between eBaum's World forum members and Something Awful forum members have occurred concerning the posting of "Photoshop Phriday" images on eBaum's World without permission.

On January 6, 2006, eBaum's World hosted and watermarked a Lindsay Lohan montage created by Derek Lutz (of YTMND), while crediting neither him nor YTMND. Users from YTMND responded by disrupting the eBaum's World forums with spam posts and DDoS attacks. On January 10, eBaum's World alleged the attacks were a form of "cyber-terrorism", and on January 11, Neil Bauman stated publicly that arrests were being made in relation to the attacks (though none have been made public as of yet.) Max Goldberg, owner of YTMND, and Neil Bauman eventually came to an agreement, with Bauman agreeing to remove the montage from his website, and in return, for Goldberg removing any reference to "eBaum" from his website. Despite the resolution, both sites experienced DDoS attacks on the morning of January 12, 2006.

There aren't any written rules or regulations. We're trying to do our due diligence and do the things that we feel are right by not taking other people's material without crediting them or contacting them first. We try to...we contact all these people. Like if we something we like, like a game, we don't just put it on our site. We contact these people. And if you notice with all our new Flash games, we have our own intro in them, and it's done by the creators and we pay them for that.

”

On May 26, 2006, several images from the Something Awful forums were displayed on the eBaum's World website.[11] The images on eBaum's World were cropped to remove the Something Awful watermark. The page was removed later in the day following multiple complaints being expressed on the eBaum's World forums. As a result, Something Awful switched to a more invasive watermark template.[12]

In December of 2006 and January of 2007, individuals who identified themselves as being from eBaum's World (among other websites) "raided" Hal Turner in a DDoS attack, taking his site offline and racking up thousands of dollars of bandwidth bills, according to Turner himself.[13]

eBaum's World on television

On January 24, 2006, USA Network made a deal with the Fox Television Studios to create a television program based on eBaum's World. Producers described it as a late-night companion special to air with WWE RAW featuring clips from the website, as well as new and exclusive content including interviews with former and current eBaum's World subjects. The Show was to feature former TechTV Host Martin Sargent of Unscrewed and professional wrestler Chris Jericho. The show was being executive produced by Simon Andreae through his production company, The Incubator, in association with Fox Television Studios. The cease and desist letters from this company were removed when this show was announced.[14]

On February 27, 2006, a researcher named Bradley Scott from eBaum's World TV show contacted the webmaster of Albino Blacksheep, asking the webmaster to sign over the site's content while refusing to admit what show it was for. The producer of eBaum's World television show finally admitted who he was but did not directly acknowledge the content that appears on eBaum's World, including Albino Blacksheep's. The webmaster recorded samples of these calls for their message boards.[15]

The show's pilot was expected to air in August 2006, but USA passed on the pilot.[16]

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FAQ

WALL-E seems to share a likeness with Johnny 5, the robot from the Short Circuit movies, does he have any relation to him? What is the song at the end of the trailer? How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie? more

I just saw the screener in the theater and was amazed. I am the kind of person that has never liked science fiction movies. I have tried all the famous movies in this genre, like Star Wars, The Matrix and A Space Odyssey and hated all of them. Next to me in the theater were a couple of Sci-fi-lovers and they loved Wall-E beyond belief. I did too, however. Wall-E is: A) A great story B) Packed with fun and humor C) Built up with memorable characters D) Fun for all ages E) Revolutionary in animation techniques

The world Pixar creates is so credible, you forget it is animation. Thumbs up for Wall-E as well, he is such a cute and adorable character, you will fall in love with him immediately. I loved EVE as well.

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